The Norwegians that occupied this part of Norway were generally farmers of potatoes during the mid 1800's. The latitude is about 200 miles north of Oslo.  It is a rolling landscape somewhat similar to Minnesota where many Scandinavians later settled.

During the 1800's potatoes were a dominate crop and became a most important ingredient in Norwegian recipes, such as Lefsa, a potato pancake.  A side affect of eating potatoes was the dimishing of the incidence of scurvy among seafarers and in the Highlands of Scotland. [Carpenter 101] Very much like Ireland, the wide popularity of the potato caused a population explosion and forced a dependence on the continuation of the planting of potatoes. From 1810 to 1847 the population almost doubled. By the mid- 1800's Norway experienced their own "potato famine" caused by successive failures of this most important crop.  The potato blight responsible for the Irish Potato Famine caused in Norway many of the same hardships and forced the breakup of large families and emigration of many to the United States. [lanb 225]

Norway had, according Hubert H. Lamb's Climate, History and the Modern World,  many years of vastly difficult weather conditions between 1690 and 1710.  The Little Ice Age froze rivers, the Baltic sea, and created glaciers in Norway that forced the abandonment of farms.  These kinds of conditions were repeated again in "1837-38 and was such an extreme winter in Scandinavia that there was ice all the way from Skagen (the north tip of Denmark) to the southernmost point of Norway and round along the southwest coast of Norway as far out to sea as the eye could see.  (In March 1838 the ice on this Atlantic coast was drifting back towards the south again.)"    These cold winters were also accompanied by wet summers.  The wheat crops failed due to the wetness and the potato took the place as the dominate crop. Constant planting and the potato blight (Phytophthora infestans), that was believed to be imported to Europe from America in 1845 probably aboard a returning passenger ship, grows abundantly with a constant 10 C  and 90% humidity.  "We read in a farm diary from as far away as Jaeren in southwest Norway that in 1846 the alternations of rain and sun, always with warmth, ripened the corn quickly and it was safely got in by 29 August, but the 'the potatoes rotted again.'  In Ireland, where the potato was the staple crop on multitudes of small farms, 80 per cent of them under 6 hectares (15 acres)  and many only a fifth of that size, the effect was devastating."  [Lamb p. 231- 232]

The Scotland with a similar latitude and proximity to Norway also had corresponding crops and weather.  Scotland was similarly afflicted.  In 1846 the Highlands potato crops were blighted and the following winter it was particularly cold and snowy.  Between 1846 to 1852 1.7 million people emigrated from Scotland.  The most well known famine from the potato blight was in Ireland where approximately 1,000,000 people died and caused the emigration of 1.7 to 2 million.  [Lamb 231] [wikipedia.com]        

The Løten/Hedemarken area of southern Norway although agriculturally bountiful was still controlled by a feudalistic land based system that limited economic prosperity of the peasants who raised large families.   Of many people born here, including my own grandfather Evan Rohne (22 Sep 1848-1901), another famous person was Edvard Munch (12 Dec 1863-1944).  [edvardmunch.info]

Unlike many Scandinavians, my own relatives came to Texas with the sanction and approval of the King of Norway and Denmark who was offered a sizable section of land for settlement by immigrating Scandinavians.  The central Texas area to which they came also has low rolling hills although a much hotter climate.  My own relatives became successful farmers of primarily wheat and cotton.

Source:
          Carpenter, Kenneth J. The History of Scurvy and Vitamin C., The Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK 1986
          edwardmuch.info - biography
          Lamb, Hubert H. Climate, History and the Modern World.  Routledge, 2nd ed. 1982

All information and photos included within these pages was developed by the help of hundreds of researchers. The information here is for the express purpose of personal genealogical research and is freely offered as long as this site is listed as a source. It may not be included or used for any commercial purpose or included in any commercial site without the express permission of Elroy Christenson. Copyright Elroy Christenson 1998-2010.